Why the NHL’s mobile site and app score big

Christopher Golier

The National Hockey League operates one of the most successful mobile web sites. Using their smartphones, fans can keep up with their favorite teams, buy tickets and merchandise, and interact with teams in other ways. But creating the NHL's mobile site and app and keeping them running smoothly isn’t easy.  

In a session entitled “How the NHL Scores with a mobile design” on Feb. 15 between 9:45 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. at Internet Retailer’s Web Design & Usability Conference, Christopher Golier, vice president, mobile marketing and strategy for the National Hockey League, will share what it takes in the planning and the execution.

He’ll talk about how to optimize site design for mobile and address the constraints as well as the possibilities of the channel. He’ll share how the NHL decided what to offer via mobile vs. web, how it makes sure its mobile site and app are operating the way they should, how e-commerce on mobile differs from on the web and how its mobile program will evolve.

“Designing for mobile devices is a challenge for any publisher due to the form factor as well as the fragmentation caused by multiple handsets, network operators, and operating systems. But the mobile platform brings advantages ranging from location relevance to immediacy of information and ease of sharing,” Golier says.  “I’ll be discussing the creation of NHL's mobile site and app and explain why mobile is a very important medium for the NHL. Attendees can expect to hear how the NHL decided on what to offer via mobile vs. web, what the future holds for mobile and how that will affect the NHL's e-commerce web site.”

Internet Retailer’s editors asked Golier to speak because he is responsible for overseeing NHL Mobile's content growth strategy, product development and operations as well as the expansion of NHL's direct-to-consumer mobile business. Prior to joining the NHL, he was senior vice president at MobileBehavior, a media, marketing and advertising consultancy within the Omnicom Group network. He also served in content and programming with Verizon Wireless and was director, mobile development, at NBC Universal.